Underwood Natural Area - South Burlington VT

South Burlington, VT photos. 

Underwood natural area, SB VT

             Underwood Natural Area located on Nowland Farm Road, is a 60-acre undeveloped parcel of land purchased by the city of South Burlington in 2013. There are trails on both open meadow and in the wooded areas.




Northern Harriers fly close to the ground - excellent vision and hearing to locate prey. Places its nest on the ground. (Explains why twice I saw it drop into the tall grasses, but I did not see it come back up). Males are gray, females are brown. See more Northern Harrier photos further down this posting.

Juvenile Northern Harrier.

This Apple tree is my marker at the edge of the woods to find the beginning of the trail.

Here is more info. about the trails.

Headed south from the Underwood property, you first encounter the trails maintained by the South Pointe homeowners association. Those are the blue tags. After that there is a parcel that is a single family home, and to the south of that are the South Village Trails. I believe that’s what you encountered with the pink ribbons. Those are trails that were roughed in with the original South Village Master Plan approval in the mid 2000s and will likely be enhanced in the future as phase III of the project is built. On the South Village Master Plan, those are listed as the “quiet trails” (ie: NO dogs by Act 250 permit).

They are located within the Natural Resource Conservation District. The area is open space for South Village’s approval made use of all of the allowable housing density for compact development in three areas. I’m not aware of any discussions about the City seeking to purchase, but as I said, the land is approved as Open Space.

Paul

Paul Conner, AICP, MCIP

Director of Planning & Zoning

City of South Burlington

The Heart of the Tree

"Wilderness is not only a haven for native plants and animals but it is also a refuge from society." -John Muir

Bernie publishes short stories and photos reflecting Vermont values of Green and Clean and Community. 

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See February photos of Underwood Park @ http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2015/02/come-to-woods-underwood-park-sb-vermont.html

here is a sample